Sabrina the tweenage Miss miffed

IT WAS a controversial win and Sabrina Houssami, dubbed
Miss World Australia 2006 despite the fact that this year's pageant
was never held, has become accustomed to defending her title.

"Because of the time restrictions, they had to send the next
fittest person and via the judging process, that happened to be
me," Houssami told Diary, fresh from being officially crowned in
her local Bankstown last week.

But it's a battle on many fronts for Houssami. Constant links
and comparisons to that other Muslim model, Michelle Leslie,
are starting to wear thin for the 20-year-old Sydney University
student, who describes herself as a "liberal practising
Muslim".

"The media have forged a connection between us just because we
both happen to be Muslim and we both happen to be involved in the
beauty industry," Houssami told Diary in no uncertain terms. "You
never hear someone being compared to someone else just because they
are Christian, or Buddhist or Hindu."

Point taken. But still, she persisted. "Just because I'm a
Muslim, it doesn't put us under the same category. We are two
completely different people.

"It's like comparing two women just because they are brunettes
or because they both come from Manly."

Fair enough, especially seeing as the two have never met. But
that will change in Sydney this Friday night when Leslie and
Houssami will attend a Red Cross charity dinner and model in front
of an A-list crowd.

But if this is the worst of it for Houssami, she should count
herself lucky. Last year's Miss England, Hammasa Kohistani,
the country's first Muslim winner, copped death threats from
fundamentalists.

Meanwhile, the 2002 Miss World contest in Nigeria was disrupted
by riots in which 250 people died, after a journalist suggested the
prophet Muhammad might actually approve of the beauty pageant. Puts
it in perspective a bit.

Over and out

CHANNEL Seven's Melbourne head of publicity, Sarah Ward, is
signing off already, after moving from Sydney to take up the post
just three months ago. "It's a personal decision for me," she told
Diary. "It has nothing to do with Melbourne." Ward's departure last
Friday came after Nine's chief publicist, Colin Vickery,
left suddenly last month following Eddie Everywhere's
axe-wielding rampage. So knowing that things happens in threes,
Diary put in a concerned call to Channel Ten's boss publicist,
Stephanie Bansemer-Brown. Are we to expect an adieu from her
as well? "No, not at all," she gushed to Diary. "I'm very happy at
Ten, it's fabulous." Without Ten, it's just two out of three.

Off the bone

CUSTOMERS at the Coles in Heidelberg were tempted to get their gear
off at the deli counter last week. An innocent mistake led to the
confusion when a deli staff member, attempting to prevent chaos,
instead created it with the sign: "Electronic number display not
working. Please bare with us and take a ticket anyway." Wishful
thinking.

Wheel relief

BRITISH supermarket chain Tesco is planning to introduce shopping
trolleys with satellite navigational systems to help shoppers find
their way around stores. The technology, which reportedly could
make the hand-written shopping list go the way of the dinosaurs,
will mean customers could attach a mini computer to the trolley,
which not only navigates but recalls previous shopping lists. Now
all the scientists need to do is get all four wheels facing the
same direction.

Soulful soup

STILL in the supermarket, Diary couldn't help but notice the
inspired words of the Maggi marketing department, as featured on an
otherwise unremarkable packet of instant soup.

"Take 5," the blurb begins. "Nourish your body, soothe your
soul. When taking a soup break, engage all five senses. Listen to
the sound of the pouring water, feel the warmth of the mug, smell
the fragrant herbs, see the colours and textures and savour the
flavoursome taste." C'mon, it's soup. Chicken, leek and crouton
soup. Not a lifestyle choice, for crying out loud!

Extended leave

A CALL to Judge Roland Williams' associate on Friday proved
fruitless for one newshound. The call went straight through to the
answering machine, and the recorded message informed the caller
that Williams would be on leave until June 10 and to please call
again after that date. July 21, that follows June 10, doesn't
it?

War of words

IT WAS an unfortunate choice of words from a member of Western
Australia's constabulary, who attempted to describe the crash scene
after West Coast Eagle Michael Gardiner ploughed his car
into a power pole and two parked cars last week. An off-duty cop
was among the first to the scene. He described it as being "like
Beirut, there was wreckage everywhere". Could this be the start of
an "international city scale" for car crashes? It's bad if it's an
Oklahoma, worse if it's a Grozny.

Tick tock

HAS time run out for the Melbourne Central clock? Last week one
onlooker hung around until the big hand was on top of the little
hand, only to find that the audio had gone dead. "The figurines
appeared but there was no sound," the disgruntled visitor said.
Horrified by the prospect of truckloads of tourists leaving the
centre disappointed, Diary got on the phone to management. A
spokesperson admitted the clock had "experienced some minor
problems with its Waltzing Matilda soundtrack", but that all
was now right. But be warned, lovers of all things cuckoo, the
15-year-old clock will get "a full internal refurbishment" before
Christmas. Sounds like a general anaesthetic at least.

Mellow fellow

ROSE Tattoo singer Angry Anderson, whose band will be
inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame with Icehouse, Daddy Cool and
the Divinyls next month, will today reveal his soft side. The
former frontman, who became known as Angry after a pub fight, will
become the face of Blundstone boots, with a campaign slogan "tough
on the outside, soft on the inside". The last time Angry's
marshmallow centre was revealed was way back in 1986 when his
Suddenly single was used for the TV wedding of
Neighbours stars Kylie Minogue and Jason
Donovan. And look where that got him: top of the Australian
charts and No. 2 in Britain.